For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB)

As many of you know, I grew up as a Southern Baptist. After God saved me in 1986 I was a Southern Baptist until 2006 when our former church was overtaken by the Purpose Driven paradigm. I was bitter about that for a while. I and many of you found common ground having had our churches ripped away from us and in many cases finding it nearly impossible to find a good Biblical local church remaining in our area after the Seeker-Sensitive tsunamis had moved through devastating what were once good churches, leaving behind man-centered, store fronts for Rick Warren’s brand of man-focused religiosity. However, God is good and through this devastation and some personal fiery trials, which actually began in 2004, He has worked in me to grow me into a more mature Christian, stronger in the Word of God than ever, more knowledgeable in Biblical Greek, and deeper in the more cerebral areas of our faith that are sorely needed in our day such as presuppositional apologetics. When I was a Deacon teaching Sunday school at our local SBC church, I was extremely mediocre in most of that and hardly knowledgeable at all in the area of apologetics. Why? I was serving and operating from within a mindset that was extremely spiritually immature compared to today. My understanding of the Gospel and theology was probably deeper than most of my peers at that time, but compared to now, it was probably surface level at best.

As I said above, the wake up call began in 2004 and as I drew closer and closer to being the obedient, prayerful Christian we are all called to be, the more suspect I became in the eyes of my pastor and most of the leadership at that church. I remember 2005 being extremely difficult because of two things. Because of my study of Church history and theogloy I became Reformed and my Pastor began trying to move the leadership into changing our church from a traditional SBC church into a more seeker-sensitive church. At the end of the year, he began actively pushing Rick Warren’s books in our classes and small groups. At the first of the year in 2006, he gave each of the Deacons Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Church to read. By then I was in active discussion with Ken Silva and many of you online about this stuff and was becoming more and more educated about what was really going on and how if I could not stop the takeover then my wife and I had to leave that church. When it became apparent that no matter what I said or did the die was cast, we left.

Since that time, my growth in spiritual maturity has not been a steady straight line upward, but compared to where I was in 2004 before God started waking me up, I see a massive change. Before, I was man-centered and still in a fog about God’s Sovereignty in salvation as well as in over our everyday lives. My theology was marked by the sermons and teachings I was subjected to at the churches to which I belonged all those years. It was after I was removed out from under all that that God removed the blinders and through the brilliant light of His Word, I now have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a mind to understand and comprehend His truths. This is God’s Work in me, not something I have done. Also, there is a purpose in this. He has not gifted me this way so I can just know this stuff and be puffed up. Who needs that? No, it is for two reasons. He saved me and has gifted accordingly so that I can do Good Works according to His Will for His glory and to edify the saints.

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10 NASB)

The words “good works” in the NASB translates ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς. The first word, ἔργοις, is the Dative, Plural, Noun form of ἔργον or ergon, “a work,” “a deed,” “achievement,” “action,” “thing,” or “matter.” In the gospels, ἔργον mostly carries an ethical meaning, as in “good works that constitute the fruit of a redeemed life.” The second word, ἀγαθοῖς, is the Dative, Plural, Adjective form of ἀγαθός or agathos, “benevolent, profitable, useful, beneficial, excellent, virtuous, and suitable.” So, what are these ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς, which God prepared beforehand that Christians should walk in them?

The Christian is now called by God to do things that are good in the ways implied by ἀγαθός. I remember in my old SBC days in those old foggy days of my understanding about the gospel and salvation, that my concept was that salvation was a gift, therefore, it doesn’t demand anything of us. I actually heard sermons that seemed to hint that Jesus was just an add-on to our lives or a “fix-it” for our problems. Just try Jesus! However, when we study Ephesians 2:1-10 in context, we see that our salvation is a life-altering reality. It transforms a depraved, hell-bound sinner into a blood-bought, heaven bound saint. Even though He saved me many years earlier, He was gracious to me back in 2004 to wake me up and get me ready for the tsunami that was coming. When it hit, I was discerning enough to know that it was not of God and I could have nothing to do with it. Even though it was a fiery trial and we have had many others since then, God is good and He has used them all to grow me up in Christ and what you read here is some of the fruit of that.

2 thoughts on “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works”

Well Mike… I for one am glad that you went through this Purpose Driven drivel because without God’s refining process in this, you would not be able to minister here and now to those of us who come here for spiritual nourishment, guidance and to be informed of some of the ongoing apostasy and how to battle against it.
Your words are a source of great encouragement to this old soul. As well it would seem, a source of great irritation to those who are not disposed to the Truth. Painful though it may be for you, it’s a good sign. You are not at friendship with “the world”!!!

“BLESSED ARE YOU when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

Therefore, I urge you brothers through the compassions of God to present your bodies as living, holy sacrifices, well pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service. And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may discern the will of God, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. (Colossians 1:24-26 ESV)

The way of escape

"To believe that He will preserve us is, indeed, a means of preservation. God will certainly preserve us, and make a way of escape for us out of the temptation, should we fall. We are to pray for what God has already promised. Our requests are to be regulated by His promises and commands. Faith embraces the promises and so finds relief." - John Owen

How to be free from bondage to our flesh and temptation

"If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation. Let this be one aspect of our daily intercession: 'God, preserve my soul, and keep my heart and all its ways so that I will not be entangled.' When this is true in our lives, a passing temptation will not overcome us. We will remain free while others lie in bondage." - John Owen

Meta

About me

My name is Mike Ratliff. I am a δοῦλος (slave) of the Κύριον ᾿Ιησοῦν Χριστόν (Lord Jesus Christ.) I have been a Bible teacher since the late 1980's. I am currently learning Koine Greek, which I began in 1992 and will continue to do so until the Lord takes me home. I am Reformed in my theology because I recognize that God is Sovereign over all things. I write these posts as God directs. I am also part of the discernment team at Christian Research Network.

OTHERS MAY, YOU CANNOT

by G. D. Watson

If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25

If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In many ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot. If you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others can brag about themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward while keeping you hidden in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.

God may let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. Then, to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility, and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, and with a jealous love rebuke you for careless words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.

So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.

God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God.